In 1997, Richard Noble's ThrustSSC hit a record land speed of 763 mph. That record has never been surpassed. But the people of Bloodhound SSC are giving it a shot.
In a project they concede could either establish a legend or kill someone, Bloodhound not only seeks to beat the old record but to shatter it by hitting 1,000 mph.
What's neat about this project is that unlike a racing series, anything goes here. Their current design centers around a car equipped with both a jet engine and a hybrid rocket engine which they hope will give them the equivalent of 133,000 horsepower. The whole project is so nuts that it almost makes designing a Formula One car look easy — not even a plane can fly at this speed at that altitude.
The latest video from our pals at XCAR focuses on this open-source project, which also aims to inspire a new generation of young engineers and get them interested in achieving what some consider to be impossible.
Can Bloodhound pull it off? It sounds like they're a ways off from that, but cheering for them to do it. I mean, 763 mph? That's so 90s.